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Conference bookie::movies

Title:	Movie Reviews and Discussion
Notice:	Please do DIR/TITLE before starting a new topic on a movie!
Moderator:	VAXCPU::michaudo.dec.com::tamara::eppes

Created:	Thu Jan 28 1993
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1249
Total number of notes:	16012

655.0. "Clerks" by 12138::WEISSMAN () Tue Sep 20 1994 17:10

I saw this film this past weekend at the Boston Film Festival - one of the best
films I've seen recently.  It's basically about a day in the life of two
convenience store clerks - the film is quite biting, satiric and very
entertaining.  The writer/director and producer (unfortunately I forget their
names) were present for a Q & A. It's based on the writers personal experiences
before he went to film school.

This is their first film out of Vancouver film school (actually the
writer/director quit).  They made it on a $27000 budget that they got by running
up their credit cards.  After getting it shown at the Sundance Film Festival, it
was purchased by Miramax for commercial release.  It's due out end of October if
they get their rating issue resolved.  The board has given them an NC-17 rating
which they are appealing - their contract with Miramax requires an R which they
had assumed wouldn't be any problem.  They've hired Alan Dershowitz for the
appeal.  The issue is strictly language - there is no violence, nudity, or sex
in the film.  They haven't even been told what needs to be cut although the
director suspects its a scene in which a character talks about someone
performing a certain act upon himself - he said this probably hit a nerve with
Jack Valenti who's been known to perform said act -:) They were quite candid
with their comments.

They were asked why they filmed in B&W.  They said the official answer was
artistic integrity, blah, blah, blah.... but they real answer was that they
couldn't afford good lighting and B&W worked best with the florescent lights in
the conveneience store.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film for those who aren't bothered by language -
if it gets cut they said it will be released uncut in Canada and on video.

By the way, their next film is budgetted at $5M.  They requested $2M-$3M but the
studio refuses to fund anything under 5. They said they didn't know how to spend
it all.  Someone in the audience volunteered to be put on their payroll to help
them solve their problem -:)

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
655.1		WESERV::ROBERTS	climb a ladder to the stars	`Tue Jan 03 1995 16:22`	3
	Clerks is showing right now at Wilton Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, NH
655.2	"36? Including me?" "Well, 37"	WONDER::REILLY	Sean / Alpha Servers DTN:223-4375	`Wed May 31 1995 14:26`	10
	Great Flick! Definitely "love it or hate it," but interesting - one of those bizarre movies that just seems to hit it right. Now I finally know where the heck that clip 'BCN has been running in between songs came from! - Sean
655.3		AIAG::WEISSMAN		`Wed May 31 1995 15:16`	8
	>>By the way, their next film is budgetted at $5M. They requested $2M-$3M but >>the studio refuses to fund anything under 5. They said they didn't know how to >>spend it all. Someone in the audience volunteered to be put on their payroll >>to help them solve their problem -:) I read somewhere recently that they're working on their next film called "Mall Rats" which will be the second part of a trilogy. They also figured out how to spend their budget - they hired Shannon Dougherty to star in this one!
655.4	Good judgement.	MASALA::DROONEY	Lifes a beach	`Thu Jun 01 1995 07:15`	18
	I wrote down several movies from this notes file several months ago. They were all given the thumbs up by the people that have seen them and they took quite a while to reach the UK. The movies were, Shawshank Redemption - Brilliant,probably the best of the lot. Hoop Dreams - Thouroughly enjoyable 3 hour Documentary. Quiz Show - Haven`t seen it yet. Clerks - Haven`t seen it yet,may not be in UK yet. The point is neither of the two films I have seen would have caught my attention if I hadn`t read this note`s file. Davie. ps,The next one given rave reviews by you all is Braveheart,looking forward to seeing it.
655.5	Thumbs up	NETRIX::michaud	Ron Goldman	`Mon Jun 12 1995 23:33`	15
	> The board has given them an NC-17 rating > which they are appealing - their contract with Miramax requires an R which > they had assumed wouldn't be any problem. > appeal. The issue is strictly language - there is no violence, nudity, or sex > in the film. They haven't even been told what needs to be cut although the > director suspects its a scene in which a character talks about someone > performing a certain act upon himself - .... Just rented this on video (in the US). The film is labeled R yet I believe the language you refer was not cut (if you are talking about the talk about performing fellatio on one's self?). Another thumbs up here. Warning however, the language is not appropriate for younger viewers or those easily (or even not so easily :-) offended.
655.6		AIAG::WEISSMAN		`Tue Jun 13 1995 11:02`	1
	yes - they won their appeal and didn't have to cut the film before release
655.7		BUSY::BUSY::SLABOUNTY	Holy rusted metal, Batman!	`Fri Jul 21 1995 15:01`	14
	I rented this last month, based on comments in this note, and it is a great movie. Bizarre, like Sean said, but very good. The acting is somewhere between good and very good, the characters are believable, and the story is believable. No real "plot", so to speak ... since "a day in the life" movies rarely have one, but it wasn't needed. Looking forward to "Mall Rats", I think ... with that much money they might try to get too fancy. And with Shannen Dougherty whining about everything they might have to fire her and get some- body good. 8^)
655.8	:^)	WONDER::REILLY	Sean / Alpha Servers DTN:223-4375	`Mon Jul 24 1995 22:07`	6
	"Chip goes in salsa... Sharks in salsa..." Rollin'!!!!!